


Lies

by taylor_tut



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Gen, Hiding Medical Issues, Palladium Poisoning, Protective Peter Parker, Sick Character, Sick Tony Stark, Sickfic, Tony Stark Whump, Whump, protective strephen strange
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-27
Updated: 2018-09-27
Packaged: 2019-07-18 04:02:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16110398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taylor_tut/pseuds/taylor_tut
Summary: A request from my tumblr for Tony hiding a medical emergency and Stephen Strange confronting him about it. I chose a recurrence of palladium poisoning! :)





	Lies

Peter set down his Chinese takeout carton with a hand over his chest, perplexed about the strange fluttering feeling that had just begun there. While he was still mostly figuring out his spider senses, some things were easy to pinpoint, and this was one of them.

“Mr. Stark, are you okay?” he asked, turning to Tony, who was fully immersed in welding two pieces of metal together. Tony flicked up his visor and turned off the torch with an inquisitive look. 

“Why do you ask?” he dodged. Peter wasn’t buying the dumb act. 

“I’m getting a weird fluttering in my chest,” he observed, “and I think it might be an irregular heartbeat.”

Tony’s eyes went wide. “And you’re asking me if I’M okay?” Tony asked incredulously, but Peter shook his head. 

“No, not mine,” he said, “I think… it might be yours?” 

Tony frowned, half curious and half creeped out, but placed a hand to his chest anyway and counted the beats before muttering a curse. “Well, I’ll be damned,” he grumbled, “you’re right. Must’ve had too much coffee. So care to explain to me why you can you feel what I’m feeling?”

Peter flushed pink. “It’s part of the spider powers thing,” Peter explained defensively. “And it’s not like I can read minds or feel your emotions or whatever. Just sometimes things feel, just, off, some feelings more specific than others. It happens with Ned and MJ, too. Plus I can feel May’s menopause hot flashes.”

Tony blinked, flabbergasted. “That’s… wild,” he said. “I’m floored.”

“Yeah, it’s all very exciting,” Peter rolled his eyes. “Can we get back to your arrhythmia?”

Tony waved a hand dismissively. “Just too much caffeine,” he reassured, “and not enough sleep. I think I’ll let you go early tonight.” Peter happily began to pack his things into his backpack. If Tony was willing to actually address a problem, he didn’t have to worry that he was running himself into the ground and denying it.

Or so he thought. 

The next day, Saturday, Peter slept in a bit and arrived at Stark Tower at 10a.m. The night owls were standing in the kitchen drinking coffee, namely Tony and Stephen.

“Morning, everyone,” Peter chirped, only to be greeted by three “it’s still too early” eye-rolls. 

“Hey, Pete,” Tony replied, setting his mug down on the table and ushering him to the counter to sit with the group. “Had breakfast yet?” 

Peter nodded—May always fed him pancakes on Saturdays. 

“Cool,” Tony said. “Well, you can either go down to the lab and start up your program, or you can wait for me to finish my coffee.”

Peter frowned, disliking the idea that Tony was drinking coffee again considering he looked paler than yesterday, his energy seeming fake despite having gone to bed early the night before. 

“Are you feeling alright?” he asked, scanning Tony suspiciously. “Your heart is still skipping.”

Before Tony could reply, Strange was stepping forward, suddenly wide awake. “Your heart is what, now?” he asked, already fretting without even knowing details. 

Tony pressed two fingers to his carotid and everyone was silent, then he sighed exasperatedly. “You’re right,” he admitted, “it is. It’s probably just a wire come loose in the reactor. Don’t freak out.”

“Why would we—holy shit!” Peter exclaimed as he watched Tony pop out the reactor and begin pressing firmly on the places where wires met metal with his thumbs. 

“No big deal,” Tony dismissed, “I can take it out for a few minutes at a time with no problem.” It seemed to take longer than he thought it would because his knees began to buckle as his complexion went from pale to dusky, so Stephen helped him into the chair under him. In just under a minute, Tony had circled the whole reactor and put it back in his chest, regaining a bit of color but still looking tired. 

“Better?” Stephen asked, more to Peter than to Tony, but it was the billionaire genius who replied. 

“Much,” he said confidently, taking another long sip of coffee. “Good lookin’ out, Pete. Ready to get to work?” Despite some reservations, Peter nodded and followed him down to the lab. 

Another poor choice: taking Tony’s word at face value. Peter would trust Tony with his life, sure, but with Tony’s own? Not a chance. It only took two hours for Tony to begin to slow down, three and a half to develop enough of a headache that he dimmed the lights in the lab and turned off the music, and five hours to forget what he was doing entirely. Peter could feel him getting antsier and antsier, but he wasn’t about to start on him again. He didn’t think he could get away with that a third time.

“I’ll be back,” Tony announced suddenly, pushing away from the desk and running a hand through his sweat-damp hair. “Need a water bottle while I’m up?” 

Peter shook his head, trying not to look alarmed at the admission that Tony was actually about to go drink WATER. “I’m good,” Peter called, “take your time. I’m fine here.”

Tony nodded and stumbled to the elevator, took it up to the main floor, and stumbled out of it—straight into Strange, who seemed to have been waiting by the doors. Damn magical future vision. 

“Woah, you alright?” he asked, and Tony nodded even though Strange knew better than to believe him. 

“Just not feeling so hot,” Tony said, rubbing a shaky hand over his face. “Probably picked up a little bug or something.”

Strange frowned. “How long do you think you’re going to get away with this lie?” he accused, and Tony stiffened in his grip, forcing himself to take on his own full weight to stand propped against the wall. 

“What lie?” he played dumb.

“Tony, you’re not overcaffienated or tired or coming down with a cold,” Stephen said bluntly. “The arc reactor is malfunctioning. You know exactly what’s wrong with you, probably better than I do, and you can’t even see into the future.”

It may have taken that to drag Tony out of his state of heavy denial, but he sighed. “Palladium,” he said somberly, “again.”

“Yeah,” Stephen agreed. 

Tony went slightly slack again, pushing one fist against his eye to stop the throbbing pain while Stephen helped ease him to the ground.

“We’re gonna fix it,” Stephen promised. “You, me, Peter, Bruce, Shuri—we’re going to get all hands on deck this time, okay? You’re not alone anymore. This isn’t a cave in Afghanistan, this is home. And your family is going to take care of you.”

Tony nodded and allowed Stephen to settle him on the couch while he began to make phone calls to organize the troops. Not one person declined his request. 


End file.
